This invention relates to a method of preventing newly manufactured potassium bicarbonate from caking and to the cake-free potassium bicarbonate product. In particular, it relates to the addition of about 0.1 to about 2.5 wt % anhydrous potassium carbonate to newly manufactured potassium bicarbonate.
Potassium bicarbonate is useful in many industrial processes and consumer products. For example, it is used in dry-powder fire extinguishers where it is approximately twice as effective as sodium bicarbonate. However, potassium bicarbonate has a tendency to cake and in certain applications it must be free-flowing. Caking can be prevented by placing it in intimate contact with an anti-caking agent. There are numerous commercially available anti-caking agents such as, for example, silica gel, which can be used to produce free-flowing potassium bicarbonate. These anti-caking agents are usually selected on a cost-performance basis. However, if the potassium bicarbonate is to be used in certain applications, an anti-caking agent, even if it is safe, may be considered undesirable since its presence may exceed a specification limit or cause turbidity or problems in downstream reactions.